Data processing systems such as servers often include add-on adapter cards accessible from the back of the rack. These adapter cards, also referred to as input/output (I/O) adapter cards or I/O cards, are typically provided with standardized physical dimensions. These adapter cards may be communications adapter cards such as Fibre Channel adapter cards, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) adapter cards, InfiniBand adapter cards, or graphic and video processing cards, to name a few. These adapter cards are often required to be serviced, replaced, or upgraded, meaning that they need to be easy to access and easy to remove and replace.
I/O adapter cards such as PCIe card are generally provided in one or two sizes, i.e., a full-sized or half-sized card corresponding to a length of 12.283″ and 6.6″, respectively. In a typical blade server environment, most hardware equipment is installed within 19-inch rack cabinets for easy installation and maintenance, with the 19-inch rack cabinet so referred to because the width of the cabinet that houses the hardware is 19 inches. The common computer rack can hold equipment with a total height of 42 U, with 1 U being 1.75″ (44.45 mm) in height. As consequence, the smallest equipment is housed in a 1 U chassis, which is also known as a “pizza box.” The 1 U rack-mounted chassis is so called not only because of its flat structure, but also because of the way its top cover is removed.
As computer power increases, the need for I/O capability also increases accordingly. Unfortunately, the confined space of the 1 U chassis severely limits the addition of more I/O adapter cards. In particular, the height constraints placed on the 1 U chassis requires that the cards can only be placed horizontally in a typical chassis because the height of the card (including the metal bracket) is generally greater than the interior height of the chassis. While the horizontal card placement allows the I/O cards to be placed in the chassis, it is a non-optimal configuration considering the accessibility requirements of the 1 U chassis in the field. Consequently, the horizontal I/O card configuration does not allow for hot-swap capability, and requires the following procedure for removing a card: power down the server blade; remove server blade from rack cabinet; remove the top cover of server blade; remove I/O card horizontally from connector.